Without You
by Minagi Ito
Summary: song from Badfinger, Tom Evens and Pete Ham wrote it amazingly, they both committed suicide . So it's not mine!


**Without You**

_I own nothing, song from Badfinger, written by Pete Ham and Tom Evans._

_No, I can't forget this evening  
Or your face as you were leaving  
But I guess that's just the way the story goes.......  
You always smile but in your eyes your sorrow shows  
Yes, it shows...._

It's a party, Mai was having her friends over, and nearly all those who were involved during the Carnival Festival were there. Shizuru and Natsuki had been together for a few years now, their relation changed since then and it headed in the right direction and Mai is happy for them. Even Yukino and Haruka are covering ground as well, mainly because her roommate had gotten the shy girl drunk enough that she'd told Haruka how she felt. Truly, everyone was moving forward, it's nearly ten years since then. Many things changed through the years while a few things never changed, that was especially true for Natsuki and Nao as the two still doesn't get along with each other that well.

In the midst of the party, it was Natsuki that started the chain of reaction with her question. "So what's the big news?" She knew that Mai would rarely go all out, and the fact that there's mayo in some of the dishes were a sign that something exciting was going on in her friend's life. "Yuuichi and I are getting married, but we're thinking of getting engage first." Mai replied with a bright smile on her face while everyone suddenly became dead silent all of a sudden upon hearing the news.

"Congratulation," Mikoto's voice broke the silence as she held a glass of juice up in her hand and a smile on her face. "Y-yeah, congratulation!" everyone else said and the sound of a car's horn blaring outside. "Someone called a cab?" Nao asked looking out through the window's blind. "Oh, that would be me." Mikoto said as she put the glass down and picked up her jacket. Mai was surprised at the revelation, "Where are you going?" "Airport, I have a flight to catch," Mikoto replied fishing out her passport and ticket from her jacket while smiling still. "Anyway, congratulation Mai," she said giving Mai a quick hug. "I'll see you guys," with that Mikoto closed the door behind her and the next thing everyone heard was the car speeding away.

The look of surprise was evident on nearly everyone's face, even Reito didn't know of it either. Mai looked over at him and he just shrugged his shoulders in return, it's a sign that he doesn't know about his sister's departure and furthermore where she's going either. Nao said nothing as she took a sip of the beer; it seemed that she's the least surprised person in the room. Mai got a feeling that Nao knew about Mikoto's plan in leaving, the two of them had been good friends soon after the Carnival. When she turned to look at Nao, the red head just ignored her and keep on drinking her beer until its empty.

"Well, thanks for the beer but I'm out of here," Nao finally said as she placed the bottle into the recycling bin (yes, they had a recycling bin in the apartment). "You know about it didn't you?" Mai asked quietly. "I don't know what you're talking about, but does it matter if I know about whatever it is or not? You're getting engage to your on-and-off of a boyfriend, so there's no reason for you to need to know where she's going or not. Or do you want to keep making her suffer until she commits suicide?" Nao said looking at Mai hard, she was being merciless tonight though she had kept her mouth shut most of the time she is here tonight. "Have you ever stopped to think this? Who is always there for you whenever you and your _boyfriend_ have a fight? Who would always be there to comfort you whenever you two broke up? Who was there to pick you up and dust you off, giving you a little push so that you can continue to move forward only to make the same damn mistake over and over again? Yet who is still there for you through all that time, sharing your pain, sorrow and happiness? Who is it that never stops telling you how beautiful and precious you are, and how much they love you huh? Who?!" Nao snapped. "Don't you _fucking_ dare tell me that Tate Yuuichi told you those words," she hissed looking like she's ready to hit Mai.

"Hey! That's enough!" Natsuki decided to step in to defend her friend. Nao took in a deep breath and recomposed herself, "Later." She left, Shiho gave a bow and follow suit, she had learned that Nao may acted tough but she have a kind heart. Ever since her mother woke up from the coma, Nao had started to change for the better and controlled her tongue more often than not. It hadn't been easy for the red head, but with her mother's support and new adoptive siblings' cheering she was getting better by the day. This would be the first time in a long while since she cursed, and Shiho could guess that Nao was extremely upset to be unable to hold herself back from attacking Mai.

HiME

_No, I can't forget tomorrow  
When I think of all my sorrow  
When I had you there but then I let you go  
And now it's only fair that I should let you know  
What you should know..._

"Yu-kun, who is she?" a girl with deep blue locks asked Tate Yuuichi while hugging his right arm. "Ah… eh…" Tate Yuuichi was in a bind and didn't know what to say to get himself out of it. "_Tate_, can I see your keys?" Mai said calmly, almost too calmly. Tate nervously complied, and Mai took it looking for a specific key and remove it from his keys set before giving it back to him. Taking the ring off of her ring finger, Mai took Tate's hand and put the ring in his hand. "I finally realized that we were never meant to be together, your indecisiveness is the downfall of what we could have been but I'm tired of this game we play. I hope you two are happy together," Mai said with a smile and walked away.

"I'm such a fool, how could I not see it sooner?" Mai berated herself once she got back to the apartment that she once shared with Mikoto. It has only been a week since the girl left, but it felt like an eternity to Mai as she wept and wept after everyone left that night. The more she thinks about what Nao said, the more she realized how blind she has been. She was blinded by how Tate had heroically saved her from the Obsidian Lord at the final battle, blinded by how cute he looked when he was all shy about kissing her. Yet she never stopped to see what's before her, how the cat girl has slowly become less dependent on her, Mikoto didn't hug her like she'd always done anymore. How Mikoto had came home from kendo practice one day and found Mai in a heap on the floor, crying because she and Tate had gotten into a fight and broke up. How Mikoto had easily picked Mai up and took her into their shared bedroom, holding Mai and whispering soothing words until she stopped crying. How the girl had been so tentative that Tate came straight to her and apologize the very next day with a black eye, courtesy of Mikoto's shinai.

Minagi Mikoto, one who is always so carefree and innocent, changed overtime. Slowly, her smiles no longer reached her beautiful golden eyes, even though she smiled for Mai, sorrows were visible in her eyes. Mai was too oblivious to notice the obvious; she thought that the cat girl will always remain innocent and carefree no matter what.

Mai decided to move away, Yuuichi had been bothering her, leaving messages on her phone filling up her mailbox. Cutting her phone line, Mai returned the apartment and made the biggest move in her life, to Kyoto and hope to start out fresh. Once she settled in to her new place, Mai went to the doctor for a checkup when she missed her cycle, only to find out that she's one month pregnant. It's hard to tell because Mai didn't have morning sickness, the only change was that she'd eating more than she used to. She opened a small bakery shop, and Natsuki wanted to partner up by turning it into Tea & Sweets Café shop, which Mai didn't mind at all.

Once everything was squared away, Mai sat down and wrote Mikoto a letter. "Nao, I know you're still mad at me, but could you please send this letter to her?" Mai asked when she finally got Nao on the phone after much effort from Nao's mother. _"What make you think I would know where she's at?"_ Nao asked sharply over the line, she definitely was still holding a grudge against Mai. "Because you're her friend and confidant, please I'm begging you." Mai said as her voice started to crack. _"No,"_ Nao said curtly. _"Nao-chan, at least listen to what she have to say,"_ Mai heard Nao's mother's distinctive voice in the background. _"Fine," _Nao grumbled and Mai felt a wave of relief washed over her. _"If the letter has anything that is hurtful to Mikoto, I swear I will hunt you down and make the rest of your life so miserable that you wish you're dead. Are we clear?" _Nao threatened. "I promise, and there's no need for you to make me feel miserable, what you've said is true. I've been miserable since that night, I don't think there's anything you could do to make it worse," Mai explained. _"Good, because his parents got him an omiai the other day,"_ Nao said in a less acidic tone. For whatever reason it was, Nao had never seemed to like Tate.

HiME

_I can't live if living is without you  
I can't live, I can't give any more  
I can't live if living is without you  
I can't give, I can't give any more_

_Mikoto,_

_I know that you're probably busy with your work and you might not want to read what I have to say, but I really want to apologize for not noticing your feelings for me for so long. No, it is not true; I was denying it because you're always so innocent when you spoke those words to me. So in the process, I had done the unthinkable thing to you, I broke Mikoto's fragile heart. I had no one to blame but myself; I had always thought that I love Tate because he made me feel safe and loved. But I never stopped to think about what Mikoto made me feel, Mikoto made me feel special, loved, worshipped, happy, beautiful, needed and whole. No matter how my day was, I know that when I came home, Mikoto will be there with a warm smile making it all right again._

_There's a saying that _you don't know what you got until its gone_, really hold true because I didn't know what I have until Mikoto left. I felt empty and hallow, it's like my other half is missing. It's hard to wake up every morning without seeing Mikoto's face, and coming home, coming home to an empty house. Sometimes I thought that I was losing my mind, because I would come home and thought I heard Mikoto's voice saying _welcome home_ to me from the kitchen, but when I looked no one was there. Or sometimes I thought I heard Mikoto's opening and closing the door, saying _I'm home_._

_By the time Mikoto got this letter, Tate and I are no longer together for good this time. Because I realized that Mikoto was the one that I want to spend the rest of my life with, Mikoto is the reason I still wake up every morning. Even though it's too late to say it, but I felt that Mikoto deserve to know of how to I really felt about Mikoto._

_Love,_

_Mai_

Mikoto fold the letter and tuck it away in one of her many pockets on her vest, and then she opened another letter, this one from Nao. The handwriting was a bit sloppy, and only Nao know where she's at to mail her Mai's letter. It made her wonder what kind of drug Nao was on when she mailed the letters to her, the red head had sworn that she will never help Mai even if it's the end of the world. It's not that she hated Mai, but she disliked Mai for being so inconsiderate about Mikoto's feelings.

_Mikoto,_

_I'm not going to be all mushy or anything like that. You think I'm crazy for sending her letter to you, but she'd begged my mom to make me do it. Just let me know if she said anything hurtful to you, I'll make her pay for it. Anyway, they broke up permanently a week after you left, and then she moved to Kyoto. Now she owned a small café with Kuga, you know I don't like Kuga right? But the shop looks good, and guesses this. She's about three to four months along now; she realized that she's pregnant with that punk after she'd move to Kyoto._

_Oh, Shiho say hi, we saw Tate not long after the break up, he look like crap. Something about the girl he was cheating with dumped him right after Tohkiha caught them together and make the break up permanent by taking the key back and giving him back his stupid engagement ring. I couldn't help but laugh in his face you know? Serve him right, I mean he hurt Shiho, you and her, kind of wish I can just kick him in the face though. Shiho was being nice though, telling him that should find someone else and settled down instead of being indecisive. It kind of makes me wonder if she still loves him, well, I got a slap for that._

_You remember my little sister? She and Miyu talking about getting married lately, it's kind of creepy you know? A girl from a cloning tank is marrying an android, it's like the world is ending or something but I'm really happy for them. Alyssa is now a beautiful young lady, pff… right, hormonal teenager to be exact, she and Miyu are nearly inseparable nowadays. Mom is happy though, she wondered how you faring over there. I'm sure it's probably a lot of fun digging up artifacts and fossils, but don't forget about us back here._

_Nao~_

Mikoto couldn't help but smile after reading her friend's letter; it's always full of quirky sentences. If Mikoto remembered correctly, Alyssa would be about eighteen or so, it's not surprise that she's a bit hormonal. Miyu on the other hand was always following Alyssa, for an android it's clear where her mechanical heart was at. One time she was over at Nao's house and Miyu was learning to cook, Nao had claimed that the android was putting poison in the food because everyone, even Mikoto had to take a trip to the hospital for food poisoning.

"Minagi-kun, can come over here and have a look at this?" an old man said waving to Mikoto. "Sure thing doc," Mikoto replied shoving the second letter into the same pocket as the first letter and put on her hat. The sun was burning down on the desert; both man and girl jumped down onto the crater and started dusting away at the small surface of what seemed to be the entrance to a hidden pyramid. "Doc, I think this is animal's bones," Mikoto said using her fingers to pushed the sand away enough to expose a large piece of bone sticking out.

Ecstatic at the new discovery, they uncovered almost all of the bones and shipped it to the museum in the capital city for further study. Two months later, everything was done and Mikoto had received a call from home about a finding of ancient artifacts somewhere in Hokkaido. It was one of the most exciting news for Mikoto, ever since Mai ignored her feelings and dated Tate, Mikoto started to focus her attention on something else and studying ancient artifacts let her keep what little amount of sanity she got left to herself. After leaving Fuuka Gakuen, Mikoto was accepted into Tokyo U on full scholarship, and there she received her major and minor in archeology (major: PhD) and pathology (minor: MD) in the seven years she attended there.

HiME

It's been seven months since Mikoto left, Mai is seven months pregnant and finally showing a bump when she's into her sixth month. She was constantly hungry, mostly craving for ramen, and sometimes spicy food. Shizuru had become a temporary resident at Mai's home until she's due, because Natsuki panicked the first time Mai woke her up at three in the morning asking her to make curry (which she nearly set the kitchen on fire). Natsuki learned to make incredible tea from Shizuru, but her cooking skill is still very questionable, so Shizuru had to take over and Natsuki is stuck with her since Mai was Natsuki's best friend after all.

"We're close," Natsuki said while cleaning up the counter when she heard the front door open. "You should've locked the door if you are," a familiar voice echoed throughout the empty shop, causing Natsuki to look up immediately. Standing before her is a tanned looking Minagi Mikoto, without the braided sideburns and raven hair that touched the collar of her shirt. She's wearing the same clothes the day she left, black slacks, crisp white shirt, and a loose black jacket. "Y-you-you're…" Natsuki stuttered. "Yeah, I'm back for a few months," Mikoto took pity upon the wolf and answered instead of waiting for her to finish what she's trying to say. "Besides, Nao is getting married, she would be mad if I'm not at the wedding." Mikoto shrugged. "W-wait… you're not here to see Mai?" Natsuki asked coming out from behind the counter. "Why should I?" Mikoto's voice was harsh and cold. "Because, you're all she could talk about since the day you left," Natsuki snapped glaring at Mikoto. "Then she shouldn't ignore my feelings all these years, I'm not as forgiving as Shizuru was to you. See you at the wedding," Mikoto said flatly and left the shop and Natsuki behind her.

"You've changed," Natsuki murmured. "You've changed so much over the last few months that it's frightening, it's like you're a monster…" she went back to clean up the place before closing it up. While her mind wondered if the changes in Mikoto was the result of having her feelings completely shut out by Mai, unlike Shizuru, Mikoto is a straightforward type of person and will express her feelings openly. "How many people did you kill for her, Mikoto?" Natsuki pondered out loud. Shizuru and Mikoto are alike in many ways, they were both pawns in the Carnival, killing people for the one person they love, but Shizuru finally gotten her feelings returned while Mikoto didn't until the day she decided to move forward with her life.

At the wedding, many of the former HiMEs were there, out of courtesy that Nao invited some of them while others she did of her own free-will (some, Nao's mother forced her to). Mikoto was the best man (woman?!) looking a bit foreign because of her tan and wild hair (like overgrown grass compared to her usually short spiky hair) while sporting a pair of rimless glasses. Miyu was asked to be the maid of honor, and she looked very nice in a dress which caused Alyssa to joke that there would be two brides at her wedding. After the ceremony, everyone headed to a reserved restaurant for the actual party, but Mikoto was nowhere to be found. Nao's mother said that the girl had to go back to work and Nao just shrugged, believing what her mother said was the truth.

Mai couldn't attend even though Shiho sent the invitation; she was starting to sleep more than usual. Natsuki and Shizuru had left her alone at home, she did usher them to attend the wedding and give the couple her best wishes to them. Mai had watching tv when she fell asleep, but the sound of the doorbell continuous ringing finally drawn her out of her dreamland. Rubbing her tired amethyst eyes, Mai grumpily got up and walked rather slowly toward the door.

"Hey there sleepy head," the voice was warm and gentle. The owner of the voice stood there in a regular black suit and black tie that was slightly loosen, a little tanned making her look a bit different along with her usually short hair now long making her look quite a bit like her brother. "Am I dreaming?" Mai isn't fully awake and she continued to rubs her eyes to make she that she's not still sleeping. Mikoto leaned forward and kissed Mai's head, "There, if you feel that then you're not dreaming at all." Amethyst eyes widen and become shiny with unshed tears, forgotten that she's pregnant Mai throw her arms around Mikoto and hugged her. "You're back, you're really back," Mai said as tears started to roll down her cheeks. "Yes, I'm back…" Mikoto said soothingly ruffling Mai's strawberry orange hair a little bit as she made no sign of pushing Mai away.

HiME

"Did you get my letter?" Mai asked once they settled on the couch. "Mm!" a nod from Mikoto was the only answer for Mai's question. "That's why I'm back," the cat girl said in a detached tone. "To confirm that you meant what you say in the letter," her voice was harsh and firm. "I'm only back until the end of October, but I want to know if there's a future for us. I come today to confirm that, because I don't dare to hope so I come with nothing and if I walked away after this with nothing, my heart won't hurt." Mikoto continued refusing to let her voice crack but the emotions swirled in her golden eyes. "So tell me Mai, can you see us together in the future?" Mikoto asked reaching out her hand to caressed Mai's cheek gently and her voice filled with love and tenderness. Mai closed her eyes and leaned into Mikoto's hand, wanting to savor the feeling of how gentle Mikoto's hand was even though it's thick with calluses from years of using the heavy claymore. "Can you see us arguing over which school we should put our kid in? Can you see us having a spat because I decided to teach our kid kendo and Nao making a bad influence to our kid? Can you see us growing old together and cry when our kid gets married? Can you see us making love all night long?" Mikoto's voice was becoming softer and gentler with each question.

"I don't just want the bright side of you Mai; I want all of you or nothing at all. I don't just want your love; I want your heart, your body, your soul, everything about you to be mine. I'm selfish like that, do Mai want a selfish me to be with her for the rest of her life?" Mikoto asked as she slowly stops caressing Mai's face. Amethyst eyes met golden orbs; they stared at each other in silence for a long while as Mai was so lost in Mikoto's beautiful eyes that everything ceased to exist save for the two of them. "Yes, I don't want to see a future with us together, I want a future together with you." Mai finally answered as she put her hand over Mikoto's hand to keep it against her cheek still. "I'm glad," Mikoto smiled a small smile.

The gap between them disappeared as their lips touched each other; gentle kisses soon turn into hungry kisses when Mai deepened the kiss wanting to taste more of Mikoto. The phone rang and Mikoto stopped kissing Mai long enough to answer it, like breaking the magical spell between them but it's an important call that Mikoto was expecting. "Minagi, speaking," her voice was calm even though her heart is thundering in her chest. _"Mikoto, should we come back or should I keep Natsuki here?" _Shizuru's voice filled Mikoto's ears while Mai took her free hand and started kissing it. "Everything is fine thank you," Mikoto replied while watching Mai kissing her hand. _"Let us know when you want us to be back," _Shizuru said with feather light laughter on the other end. "Yes, please enjoy yourself and have fun." Mikoto nodded even though Shizuru won't see it. With that, they bid goodbye and Mikoto turned off her phone after her conversation with Shizuru ended.

"Who is it?" Mai asked. "Co-workers calling to see if I want to go out for a drink with them," Mikoto said, she'd learned to tell white lies after she and Nao become best friend. Mai believed her answer and leaned in to capture her lips, leaving her hands free to roam up and down her sides creating trails of blazing heat in its wake. While kissing Mikoto, Mai worked her hands in removing the girl's tie and unbutton her shirt a little bit. Mikoto helped her by taking off her jacket, but then the table turned when Mikoto started kissing down to her neck and removing her shirt at the same time revealing the ample chest. Laying Mai back on the couch, Mikoto removed the bra and on with the pants leaving Mai with nothing but her panties while Mikoto is still fully dressed.

"So gorgeous," Mikoto whispered as she nibbled Mai's neck gently while her hands gently massage those ample breasts causing Mai to elicit sweet sounds from her swollen lips. Mai felt like she's having a fever, every touch from Mikoto seemed to send her body temperature up a few degrees higher than the one before. And that expert tongue sending shivers up and down her spine while causing her skin to become all prickled at the same time, Mai thought she'd died and went to heaven when she felt Mikoto's fingers inside of her. It's like her world exploded, her vision filled with stars and colorful rainbows. Mikoto kept Mai high for as long as possible and then slowly brought her back down, watching Mai panting from exertion and the sweats made her skin glows in the afterglow gotten Mikoto smiled with satisfaction. Once Mai's breathing slowed down to a normal pace, Mikoto continued to watch that beautiful face drifting off into dreamland from exhaustion (seven months pregnant).

When her eyes fluttered open, Mai was scared that everything that happened a bit ago was just a dream because she's in her room. Then she realized something heavy draped over her stomach, Mai pulled the cover up and looked under it. Her eyes mellowed completely at the sight of her current state and the hand, though to make sure she took the hand and rolled to her other side coming face-to-face with a sleeping Minagi Mikoto. "I love you," Mai said as happiness was bubbling up inside of her as she snuggled closer to Mikoto and breathe in her scent. "I love you too," Mikoto said in her sleep and let out a contented sigh.

Time flew by quickly with Mikoto being there to take care of Mai, relieving Shizuru and Natsuki from the burden (Natsuki could've kissed the girl for it but didn't because she's too tough for that). On the twenty-fifth of October, Mai gave birth to a healthy baby girl; naming her Miki instead Aki (a name Natsuki suggested because of October is considered the middle of autumn). When asking who is the father of the child, Mai pointed to Mikoto who then just quirk a brow at the doctor and nurse. In the end, it was settled that her daughter will be Minagi Miki because in truth, the baby looked just like Mai save for the pair of beautifully amber eyes that resemble Mikoto's eyes.

Five days later, Mikoto left and headed to Hokkaido, this time telling Mai where she will be staying. But not before she got Nao's mother, Yuuki Sakiko to move in with Mai, Nao had no idea how the girl managed to get her mother to agree to such a thing. What Nao didn't know was that her mother offered to help Mai with the baby because she wanted to be a grandmother, and she'd always seen Mikoto as her own daughter due to the fact the girl having no other living relative left beside her brother, who already has a family of his own.

HiME

After two years working in Hokkaido on-and-off, Minagi Mikoto was finally back at home for good. Gotten a good recommendation, Mikoto took a job at a local women university teaching osteology and pathology. Natsuki and Shizuru had already tied the knot, and Natsuki now pregnant with twins, thankfully Yukino and Haruka decided to adopt instead of getting pregnant. Nao is pregnant as well, which almost everyone find it to be strange as they were all sure that Shiho would be the one carrying the baby (like how shock they were with Natsuki).

Finally, Mai and Mikoto decided to make things official and wedded that spring, a traditional wedding with friends and families (neither have many). It was a big step for both of them, Mikoto wanted to make it official because she rather not have some of her students tried to flirt with her. Nao's mother becomes a permanent member of the household, causing Nao to be over more often than she wanted to. Whenever Nao's mother went to visit her daughter, Mai would come home to find that she got two daughters instead of a wife and a daughter (the kitchen looked like a warzone) but she can't complain when the pair attacked her with kisses, Mikoto would ushered her out of the kitchen with their daughter while she went to cleaned the place up. Mai would be left with Miki, shaking her head she would give her daughter a bath and by the time the mother and daughter return dinner was made and Mikoto smiling warmly at them.

"I didn't know you can cook," Mai said as they got to their bedroom after they tucked in Miki. "Sakiko-san taught me how to, Miki wanted to make dinner for you so uh…" Mikoto laughed nervously reminding Mai of the earlier event. "Aww…" Mai gushed. "We should take her to the amusement park this weekend," she continued snuggling up to Mikoto. "What about the shop?" Mikoto asked, worried about her wife's business. "Don't worry, we got good people working for us," Mai said as she started to give Mikoto light kisses on her neck. "Mmm… should we have another baby?" Mikoto's question stopped Mai in her track. "If it's not with you, no," Mai said after a long moment of silence between them. "I'm kidding, I'm happy with just the three of us together." Mikoto said kissing Mai's lips tenderly.

"Don't ever leave me again…" Mai murmured in her sleep after spending hours making love with her wife. "I won't," Mikoto whispered back brushing a few strands of stray hair out of Mai's angelic face. "I don't think I can live without you in my life…" a single tear escaped her closed eyes, Mikoto's heart breaks at the sight as the sun was slowly rising out from its slumber. "Mikoto… don't leave me…" Mai said and her face contorted slightly. "Shh, I'm not going anywhere without you. It's okay, I'm right here…" Mikoto said as she pulled Mai closer to her. "It's just a bad dream, I'm right here sweetie." Mikoto repeated herself kissing Mai's crown.

Mai woke up with a start, but calmed down when she felt Mikoto kissing her head. "What time is it?" Mai asked after staying quiet for a few minutes. "Time for some lovin'," Mikoto teased. "I already took Miki to school, called Natsuki to tell her that she's on her own today because you needs some rest. I already did my morning class today, so I'm free for the rest of the day. Go take a bath, Mai was having a bad dream this morning so I didn't want to wake her up when the dream went away. Come on sleepy head, I'll make us something to eat so go take a bath." Mikoto said with a warm smile on her face despite the worry look in her eyes. They shared brunch in silence and spent the rest of the day cuddling in bed, no words were exchange between them save for the sound of their breathing.

Mai couldn't close her eyes; every time she did the memories from her dream came back to her. It frightened her, in her dream; Mikoto got killed after breaking Reito from the Obsidian's control. Then her body become particles and a breeze pass by, taking those particles with it until there's nothing left in Mai's hands but blood. Then everything turned black, she heard her friends' voices blaming her for Mikoto's death. She cried and cried, and then Mikoto was back looking mature and calm only to turned and walk away from her. Mai run as fast as her legs could carry her, but the distant between them keep on growing until Mikoto completely vanished from her sight.

"Have you ever done things that you regret?" Mai asked out of the blue still laying in Mikoto's embrace. "A few, but the one I regret the most would probably be that I wasn't Mai's first." Mikoto mused sounding somewhat serious at the same time. "But I don't dwell on it too much, now is what matters most to me. Because I got Mai, our daughter, and we're surrounded by friends who sometimes drive us insane." Mikoto chuckled lightly and Mai couldn't help but join in with her wife. "So remember, I'll always be here for you and Miki. I'm not going anywhere without my two beautiful ladies," Mikoto continued with a serious face. That's all Mai needed to hear to feel secure again, and she decided to get up and make dinner because it relaxed her and Mikoto made her want to keep on cooking for the girl just for the compliments.

The dream never comes again, and once in a while Mikoto would be asked to go on a dig but she declined each and every time the offer came up. She's fairly happy with her job, love her life and her wife and kid, even though they may have a disagreement every now and then all was forgiven before bed. Their daughter started bringing home stray animals, but Mikoto made no decision about whether to keep them or not since Mai would be the one to decide that. Soon they owned two dogs and two cats, and Mai always amazed at how the animals seemed to be attached to Mikoto for some reason. It's a mystery that Mai doesn't want to figure out; life would be less interesting if there's no mystery to it.

HiME

"Be home by ten young lady," Mikoto said as her daughter came racing down the stairs. "Yes mama," said the teenage version of Mai. "Yuki-chan, get her back on time," Mai echoed stepping out from the kitchen with a bowl of popcorns in her hands. "Yes ma'am," a young girl with messy blonde hair nodded politely at Mai. "Mai, you're scaring her," Mikoto said. "Oh, and you hold that bokken doesn't?" Mai whipped. "Of course not, I was fixing it for her." Mikoto laughed putting the wooden sword into a cloth bag before handing it over to Suzushiro Yuki. "Well, off with you two before Haruka and Yukino come over," Mai said shooing the girls out.

"Why they having the girl taking Haruka's surname again?" Mikoto asked once the kids were gone. "Maybe Haruka bullied Yukino into it?" Mai shrugged. "Yuki looks like Haruka but have the shy personality of Yukino," Mikoto pondered. "What are you too mumbling about?" Haruka's booming voice filled the house. "It's _two_ Haruka-chan," Yukino softly corrected her wife following right behind the tousle blonde woman into the house. "Hey, you making my eardrums bleed!" another voice echoed. "Nao, honey, you're making it worst for the rest of us," another voice chimed in. "Ara… ara…" came the Kyoto-ben accent. "Dammit, why do I have to come too?" the familiar grumble followed. "Wow, full house…" someone commented. "Indeed it is," a crisp tone with a hint of mechanical to it. "Girls… girls… calm down," Yuuki Sakiko said coming out of her room holding a stack of DVDs.

It's a movies night for the grown ups since the kids all went out, every week there's a movies night at one of the couple's place. Mai and Mikoto usually have it twice in a row because Sakiko is living with them and this week it's Sakiko's turn to pick the movies. Everyone quiet down and pray that Sakiko got some none disturbing movies, last time it was hours of watching surgeries of all kind that everyone felt like they've just been scarred for life. Thankfully, all the movies tonight were comedies and some with a little romance to it, with Sakiko fallen asleep while leaning against Mikoto about half way into the third movie because it's been a tough day dealing with the animals in the house alone without Mikoto (she was asked to sub some other classes).

"_I love you," _Mikoto whispered holding Mai's hand up and kissed it. They were sitting on the couch, Mikoto had decided to let Nao's mother using her lap as pillow for better comfort some times ago. _"I love you too,"_ Mai whispered back leaning over and kissed Mikoto tenderly on the lips.

**End~**

_A/N: Okay, I have no idea what to say here. Anyway, Shizuru and Natsuki have twins, both girls; Nao and Shiho have one girl, Alyssa and Miyu adopted one girl, Haruka and Yukino adopted one. This is like yurism all the way kind of theme (laughs nervously). Sakiko is happy as a grandmother with 3 granddaughters for her to spoil and the girls love her dearly. Oh, Blood Rain is still in the process of being re-written, and I also might redo GN as well (getting stale). Enjoy~_


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